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“As a reminder, Astro2020: Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics has some deadlines coming up very soon! The science white papers were due March 11, and the Notice of Intent for the APC (activity, project, of state of the profession consideration) category is due March 20.”

The AAS Climate Site Visit Oversight Committee (SVOC) is seeking people to make site visits for the purpose of assessing climate in astronomy departments and institutes. We are extending the application deadline to midnight Sunday, March 24. We envision that each site visit team will consist of a senior astronomer, another astronomer of a different identity from that of the senior astronomer, and a specialist in human resources, diversity, or another relevant area, all drawn from the pool for which we are seeking candidates.

Those performing this service will make a major contribution toward advancing equity and inclusion in astronomy, and we expect that this experience will be professionally valuable for anyone who has or aspires to a leadership position. There will be a modest honorarium for each team member for each visit.

NASA is accepting applications – from science and engineering post-docs, recent PhDs, doctoral students, junior faculty, and engineering students within 6-9 months of completion of their master’s degree but not planning to pursue a Ph.D. degree – for its 31st Annual Planetary Science Summer Seminar. PSSS is a 12-week long career development experience from May 20 – August 9, 2019, with an onsite culminating week August 5-9, 2019 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Applications are due April 1, 2019. Partial financial support is available for a limited number of individuals.

Back to top.6. Vanderbilt panel weighs in against tenure for #MeToo scientistFrom: Alessandra Aloisi [aloisi_at_stsci.edu]

By Meredith Wadman

“A faculty grievance committee last month upheld a decision to deny tenure to BethAnn McLaughlin, a neuroscientist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville who has become a prominent spokesperson for the #MeToo movement in science.

The committee’s word in the 12 February report is not final. The university’s chancellor, Nicholas Zeppos, can overturn its decision if he justifies his move in writing to the executive committee of the university’s Board of Trust.”

"Alam wasn’t always interested in the cosmos. “Growing up, I was not a space nerd,” she says. There was no telescope in her backyard, and trips to the museum centered on dinosaur exhibits. As a kid, she preferred playing outside and riding around on her bike to gazing at the stars.

But by her freshman year in college, she’d fallen completely under astronomy’s spell."

[Show of hands. How many of us read this and said 'Yup! Me too.' --eds]

Back to top.8. This International Women's Day, Do The Nobel Prizes Show Progress For Women In STEM?From: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Kiona N. Smith

"2018 was a historic year for Nobel prizes, with the first Nobel Prize in Physics to a woman in over 50 years, and only the second Nobel Prize in Chemistry to a woman in the same period. The fact that these are milestones at all says something significant about the lack of gender equality in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. But while they throw decades of inequality into stark relief, the 2018 Nobels also suggest that progress, though it's slow, is happening."

"The challenges of parenthood for working parents are well known and, in STEM (Science, Technology, Math and Engineering) fields, have been strongly linked to the “leaky pipeline”—the loss of women from scientific careers at much higher rates than men. In contrast, the challenges that many women face in trying to conceive a baby, and the implications of these struggles for retention in STEM careers, remain veiled and stigmatized. This silence around the impacts of infertility can be largely attributed to societal stigmas and discrimination, especially in STEM fields where women are in the minority."

Back to top.10. 10 Women in Science and Tech Who Should Be Household NamesFrom: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By Emily Dreyfuss

"Even International Women’s Day itself is evidence of a lack of equality. If women were equal members of society, would they need their own special day, or month? This day, even in its celebration, is proof of a problem. And yet, women rise.

Today, in honor of International Women’s Day, we want to highlight just a few of the incredible women WIRED has written about over the years, whose work breaks boundaries, makes new worlds possible, and sets the stage for the future. These women are fighters, they are visionaries, they are tireless advocates for change, for progress, for hope. And you should know their names."

Back to top.11. Job OpportunitiesFor those interested in increasing excellence and diversity in theirorganizations, a list of resources and advice is here:https://cswa.aas.org/diversity.html#howtoincrease